To become a king and a magician

"Hmm, so you do have something to tell me."

Natsukawa Tora nodded slightly: "Speak, what do you want to talk to me about tonight?"

"Ahem! There's quite a lot to say, let's go through it in order... First, it's about tomorrow, no, I should say the final battle that's going to take place today." Olga Marie cleared her throat and said, "You, you'll definitely win, won't you?"

There was an obvious unease in his words.

After thinking for a moment, Natsukawa Tora shrugged: "I don't know."

"Huh?"

"The outcome of a match can't be completely determined until you've actually fought it out, so I don't know if I can win in the end—but I can guarantee that I will win, because I can't afford to lose."

Yes, we can't afford to lose.

We've come this far, we've waited ten years for this day, and whether for the sake of humanity or for our own sake, we absolutely cannot lose.

"So... once we win, it's all over, right?"

The burning of humanity will end with Chaldea's victory, the crisis facing humanity will be resolved, and everything will settle down.

"No, no way." Natsukawa Torama immediately rejected Olga Marie's idea. "It won't end. Even if the Human Reason Burning is over, it doesn't mean everything is over. After all, we'll be welcoming the real 'tomorrow' after that, won't we?"

The real "tomorrow".

No matter how serious the human rights crisis may be, the world will not stop functioning just because it ends. Tomorrow will come as always, and everyone will embrace hope and move towards a new future.

This is especially true for Natsukawa Tora.

"Also, after everything is over, I should probably get married soon."

"Knot--"

Olga Marie's face froze instantly.

marry!?

Seeing her surprised expression, Natsukawa Torama couldn't help but laugh, "What's so surprising? I'm almost forty years old, isn't getting married a normal thing? Actually, if it weren't for the Humanity Burning Incident, I would have gotten married ten years ago..."

Ten years ago, when faced with Natsukawa Tora's proposal, Merry said that she would marry him if she could win the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Although it was indeed a victory for Natsukawa Tiger that time, due to his stubbornness, Natsukawa Tiger decided to wait until ten years later, that is, until he had resolved the burning of humanity and completely defeated King Solomon before getting married.

"Now we can't just marry Merry, can we? Merry, Aoko, Orange, Lia, Mo..."

Xia Chuanhu counted on his fingers, listing the people he planned to send marriage applications to.

And finally—

“Mary.”

Natsukawa Torato said Olga Marie's name.

Olga Marie was slightly taken aback: "I...I have one too?"

"Of course, there's no reason not to marry you, right?" Xia Chuanhu reached out and touched her cheek. "Or are you saying you don't want to?"

"No! No! It's just... a bit of a surprise... I thought you... didn't have feelings for me."

Snapped!

A flick landed on Olga Marie's forehead, and Natsukawa Tiger laughed and said, "You do have some confidence in your charm. Putting aside what you were like as a child, you've grown into a first-rate beauty now. Plus, with our relationship of over eight years, do you think I'm the kind of blockhead who wouldn't be moved by a beauty like you?"

"Don't underestimate yourself, and don't underestimate me either."

Call it lust at first sight, call it a superficial person, but Natsukawa Tora truly likes Olga Marie, just like he likes Rei, Merry, and Artoria.

Therefore, after everything is over, Natsukawa Torato will propose to everyone.

This was something he had decided long ago.

5. What Roman wanted to do

Central Control Room.

There are only three hours left until the second day of Chaldea's internal time.

As the only person left in the control room on duty, Roman pinched his eyes after temporarily finishing part of the analysis of the Grand Temple of Time.

Are you tired?

Sheba's voice rang out behind Roman, and then Roman felt a body pressing against him from behind.

The two did not have much close contact during their lives, but now it is just a normal interaction between them, and Roman has gone from being panicked at the beginning to being completely used to Sheba's presence.

"No, it's just a habit to give my eyes a rest."

"Shall we go back to our room?" Sheba asked.

Roman shook his head: "We've come this far, so let me hold on until the end. Once it's all over, I'll naturally get a good rest."

Wait until it's all over...

Sheba looked at the information about the Grand Temple of Time on the screen: "Do you have any countermeasures? If it were you, you would surely have a way to deal with the magic you created, right?"

Sheba knew about King Solomon and about Gaetia.

The true form of Goetia is actually a magic formula created by King Solomon – [Human Reason Formula · Goetia].

It is a system created to more effectively advance the correct principles, possessing the magic of consciousness.

Although it is called Beast, and although it is called Demon King, before that, Goetia was essentially a magic formula. So, as the creator, Roman must have known how to deal with it.

“No.” Roman gave a wry smile. “No, to be precise, I know Goetia’s only weakness, but I don’t have any way to do anything to that weakness.”

As he said this, Roman took off his gloves, revealing his bare fingers.

Humanity Burning Style Demon King Goetia is the collective consciousness of the seventy-two demon gods. Its form of existence is a magic style created by Solomon during his lifetime. If King Solomon's power and existence completely disappear, then its power will also be greatly weakened, downgrading it from an invincible Beast to an existence that can be defeated.

Roman can do that.

In mythology, before his death, King Solomon returned nine of the Ten Commandments, which he had received from heaven, to the heavens, and cast the last one into the distant future. Thus, King Solomon's first Noble Phantasm was born.

—【The time for farewell has come; with this, I forsake the world (ArsNova)】

A farewell poem relinquishing all the great achievements, miracles, and magic tricks he has accomplished so far.

Once this Noble Phantasm is activated, Solomon will return the favors he received from the gods to heaven and lose his eyes to see the world.

The effect is that with the death of King Solomon, all traces of him will disappear, and he will no longer exist on the Throne of Heroes.

The death of King Solomon also meant the self-destruction of the seventy-two demons. As the collective consciousness of the seventy-two demons, Goetia would naturally be affected in the same way, losing its immortality and most of its power.

This was Roman's initial trump card, his only one as a Grand Magician used against Beast I.

But that trump card is no longer in his hands.

“Natsukawa knew all along that I had this trump card, and he also knew that I would use my first Noble Phantasm when everything was over. Perhaps he knew something from the source, or perhaps he witnessed something in the source. He didn’t want me to die, so he took my ring ten years ago.”

"So even if I knew how to target Goetia's weaknesses, there was nothing I could do but watch from here."

Ten hours later, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others were transported to the Grand Temple of Time via spirit particle transfer, and they were brought back after the battle ended—after that, Roman's mission was complete.

After ten years of continuous hard work, he can finally relax and rest completely.

Roman picked up his coffee and took a sip. He stared at the black liquid in the cup, his thoughts gradually returning to ten years ago, and he recalled his experiences over the past decade.

The moment he became human, he saw the future of humanity burning away. Since then, he has been working tirelessly to resolve this situation. Without magic circuits or clairvoyance, having lost all his powers, he can only study desperately and do what he can do.

It was an extremely difficult period in the past, and Roman still finds it hard to believe that he was able to persevere until now.

(Well, it's also thanks to Natsukawa, that guy would occasionally interrupt me and relieve my stress in his own way...)

Roman was very grateful to Natsukawa for this.

The same applies to other aspects.

For Roman, his greatest benefactor and best friend during his ten years as an ordinary person was Natsukawa Tora.

After everything is over, I must thank him properly.

Seeing Roman suddenly fall silent, Sheba reached out from behind and hugged her king: "This is for your own good... By the way, what are you planning to do next?"

"Who knows? Seriously, the final battle hasn't even started yet and you're already thinking about what will happen after the battle is over? You're being way too optimistic."

"Because you can't possibly lose, right?" Sheba laughed. "In that case, isn't it a good idea to think about the future first? What are you planning to do next?"

"And then..."

Roman looked up at the ceiling: "Anyway... I should get a good night's sleep first. Then I'll travel the world and see the things I haven't been able to see in the past ten years, until I end this life as an ordinary human being."

This was Roman's only thought, and it was a wish he had held for ten years—that was why he wished to become human.

"Alright, that's enough for our break."

After finishing his coffee, Roman patted his face: "Whether I cry or laugh, this is truly the last battle. As the current technical director of Chaldea, I must make sure that the preparations are perfect."

"Keep it up, I'll be here to cheer you on."

"No...you could at least help me a little bit!"

----------------------

The battle is about to begin.

Five hours and thirty-two minutes remain.

6. I will beat you, Solomon.

Chaldean Time.

2015 12 Month 31 Day.

It was exactly noon.

Inside Leonardo da Vinci's personal workshop.

"Well......"

Stepping out of the changing room for magical costumes, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at herself in the mirror.

Over her original Chaldea uniform, a layer of black armor was now covering her upper arms and chest, along with leg armor—previously, every time she went to a new singularity, Fujimaru Ritsuka would receive a new Mystic Code from Leonardo da Vinci and Aozaki Touko.

It's the same this time.